The LaLota Standard, and Who It Applies To

Rep. Nick LaLota wrote the rule himself. On the day the House expelled George Santos, Dec. 1, 2023, he said: "Today, my colleagues and I set a strong precedent: A Member who lies about everything about themselves to get elected will be expelled so voters can have a chance at a proper election." Seems crystal clear.

A precedent means something only if it applies to the next case, and the one after that. Nearly three years later, the record shows Mr. LaLota has applied his standard exactly once.

Federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York unsealed a 13-count indictment against Santos on May 10, 2023, on charges including wire fraud, money laundering and false statements to the House. A 23-count superseding indictment followed on Oct. 10, 2023, adding false statements to the Federal Election Commission. Both came from the Justice Department under President Biden.

Mr. LaLota's expulsion push began well before any charges were filed. On January 11, 2023, he said “What he’s done is disgraceful, dishonorable and unworthy of the office. I think he should resign. … He hasn’t shown any remorse, he hasn’t corrected any of the behavior." On February 27 he said "I didn’t see a more provable case of election fraud in my seven years as elections commissioner than the fraud committed by George Santos. His lies were the very reason he was nominated, got donations and votes. I’m for election integrity. I’m for expelling George Santos.” On May 17, 2023, a week after the first indictment, he voted to send the Santos matter to the Ethics Committee, and on Oct. 11, 2023, the day after the superseding indictment, he signed on as an original cosponsor of an expulsion resolution. It failed on Nov. 1, 179 to 213, with Mr. LaLota voting yes. After the Ethics Committee's report, his office's headline read "The Evidence is Damning, Santos Must Be Expelled." On Dec. 1 the House expelled Santos, 311 to 114, and Mr. LaLota again voted yes.

The timeline is clear. While rumors were leaking and a government investigation was underway, LaLota was already calling for the expulsion of Santos and acting as a cheerleader for the Biden DOJ. Once an indictment was unsealed, LaLota actively spearheaded the effort to bring an expulsion vote to the floor, and his public framing of that vote as an ethics test for his Republican colleagues played a large role in driving the eventual outcome.

LaLota was clear. If you lie about your background. If you participate in fraud. If elections were tainted by false pretense. YOU MUST GO. But only sometimes...

Similar cases since have drawn nothing comparable from him.

Since Santos left, federal grand juries have indicted three sitting members of the House. On May 3, 2024, the Justice Department announced bribery, foreign-influence and money-laundering charges against Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas and his wife. On June 10, 2025, an indictment was filed in New Jersey charging Rep. LaMonica McIver with assaulting or impeding federal officers. On Nov. 19, 2025, a grand jury in Miami indicted Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick of Florida, accusing her of stealing $5 million in federal disaster funds and using the money, along with straw-donor contributions, to support her 2021 campaign. Those charges include campaign-finance allegations, as the Santos superseding indictment did.

A South Shore Press review of Mr. LaLota's official press releases and his posts on X since December 2023 found no statement on any of the three. There is no call to resign and no expulsion resolution bearing his name. When the House voted on Sept. 3, 2025, on whether to table a resolution censuring Rep. McIver, the official roll call lists him as not voting. The House has held no roll call on expelling or censuring Rep. Cuellar or Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick.

Now there is Rep. Ilhan Omar. To be precise: Omar has not been charged with any crime. Federal agents searched her Washington home on Oct. 12 in what a Justice Department spokesperson called an ongoing federal criminal investigation. The warrant and its supporting papers remain sealed. Three applications to unseal them are pending in federal court in Washington, and Chief Judge James E. Boasberg has ordered the government to respond by Oct. 22. Omar has called the search the latest escalation in a campaign of political intimidation against her.

An investigation is not an indictment, and we would not ask anyone to expel a member over a sealed warrant. There have been widespread rumors about Rep Omar's immigration status, how she came to be a citizen of the United States, and whether crimes were committed in that process. Rep Omar's time in Congress has been largely associated with fringe far-left ideologies, including and most notably her support for illegal immigrants, particularly the Somalians who reside in her district. Unlike Santos, Omar stands for everything that Rep LaLota would claim to oppose. Yet our review found nothing in his press releases or X posts on the search of her home, the speculation on her immigration status, or her allegations that her investigation is an example of weaponized justice. LaLota spoke at every stage of the Santos case.

We see two possible explanations for the discrepancy. The first is that Mr. LaLota holds a very very high set of ethical standards that Santos failed, but Omar and these other members continue to meet. If so, he should tell his constituents what it is. The second explanation is that the standard is only applied when it is useful to LaLota and the people who control him, and set aside when it is not.

The record clearly points us toward the second. That is the Board's view, and it is open to correction. We would welcome Mr. LaLota explaining, on the record, what separates the case he led from the cases he has let pass.

Until he does, the record is this: when a Democrat led DOJ indicts a Republican member of Congress who happens to be involved in LaLota's local political apparatus, he will stand on a soap box and insist on expulsion, even if it means turning the government over to his opponents. When radial leftist members who openly call for the destruction of western civilization are indicted or accused of immigration fraud, LaLota will remain silent. Voters in the First District can judge for themselves why this disparity exists.

The South Shore Press reached out to Rep LaLota's office and did not receive a response.